President Barack Obama's Second Inaguration

President Barack Obama was sworn-in as President of the United States today for the final time.  He is the only two-term President to be sworn in four times.  The first time he was sworn in, there were some stumbling of the oath between the Chief Justice and President Obama.  They repeated the oath the next day.  President Obama was sworn in officially yesterday as the Constitution demands.  When the twentieth falls on a Sunday, the public inauguration happens the next day.  This resulted in Obama being sworn in twice this time as well.  I am a collector of random and useless facts, such as this.

I enjoyed watching President Obama's second inaugural address.  My favorite line was "We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate."  I consider myself an independent, and this one line explains why.  Both parties, though perhaps more in the Republican party, tend to use rhetoric that they vehemently condemns when it comes from the other side.  I remember hearing Democrats condemn George W. Bush, saying he should be impeached, if not killed.  Many of my Republican friends and family spoke of how unpatriotic such talk was, and that the office of the President demands more respect, regardless of who holds it.  Now, I can't go more than a day or two without seeing a Facebook post calling for the impeachment or assassination of Barack Obama.

I believe there are big issues facing this country.  I believe that gun control, gay marriage, abortion, and the deficit are all serious issues.  Calling anyone who supports gun control an anti-constitution Nazi does not move the debate forward.  Calling anyone who has questions about the advisability of legalizing gay marriage a homophobic loser stuck in the 1800's doesn't answer any of the questions that person might have.

I believe in civilized debate.  I believe that big issues deserve serious conversations.  I believe that in more cases than not, there is middle ground.  I believe that compromise is not a bad word.  I enjoying talking to people about big, complicated issues when they treat them as big, complicated issues, and do not try to simplify them to absolutes, or resort to name calling when they cannot form a coherent argument against a position.  I only wish I saw more meaningful discourse, and less absolutism, spectacle, and name-calling on the big issues.